Hello,

Apologies for the late notice, but I have decided not to review this title.

While I am certain it's obvious by now, I wanted to also clear this off NetGalley, so it's not showing as open for either of us.

I look forward to continuing to work with you in 2023 and beyond.

Laura

I love a good Victorian era romance that has SPIES. A super will-they-won't-they romance filled with great steam and a fast paced plot.

A spy who dons the disguise of an inveterate rake is astonished by the immediate attraction he has to the disdain of one Sylvia Sparrow, bluestocking secretary to a rowdy dowager while they bought attend a house party. Rafe is on a mission to find the source of leaked information for the host of the party, but isn't expecting to be bowled over by the stern gaze and disdain of the woman he seems to see right past all of his rakish masking.

Sylvia herself has secrets to keep, including her past affair with a man who left her when she became too much of a liability, and not wifely enough. And she's being blackmailed by someone at the house party...

Utterly delicious tension as Rafe falls hard and fast and proves to Sylvia he will protect, love, and allow her to flourish, society be damned.

Emily Sullivan is my new favorite historical romance author!

Sylvia, University educated, and an advocate for social reform is living under an alias at a house party as a lady's companion. Her work to secure women the right to vote ended in so much scandal she needed to disappear. Both Sylvia and Rafe were hiding their true selves for their own reasons. Sylvia wanting to blend in and not reveal her radical side, while Rafe kept the persona of a useless Rake. Rafe is a spy, working at the party for the host. Hired to find who at the party stole papers important to the Crown. A house party, threats, blackmail.....it should have been exciting but I found it rather slow going.

It is 1897 in Scotland. To conceal her past as a suffragist activist, Sylvia changes her name and takes a position as a lady’s companion. Then a blackmailer threatens to expose this damaging information if she does not carry out his order to steal a letter from her host at a Scottish castle. Under the cover of an irresponsible rake, Rafe Davies spies for the crown, but he is unenthusiastic about his current assignment to recover the stolen letter. When the pair meet, both are powerfully attracted to each other.

As is often the case in mystery and spy fiction, the plot is convoluted and rather unlikely. It does, nevertheless, provide an opportunity to explore a number of important issues: the vulnerability of women in a predominantly patriarchal society; the mistreatment by those in positions of authority of those struggling for equal rights; the injustices of a press more interested in sensational headlines than fairness; corruption and hypocrisy in high places. In other words, abuses of power, which are as relevant today as they were in the Victorian Age. Insightful.
Issue 99 (February 2022) https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-rebel-and-the-rake/

The book has passion of romance between the two characters. I would like to see that the romance between Rafe and Sylvia pick up with some really intense desires early on in the book. I will say that the book is a fast read. There are some flamboyant wordings that I tripped over, keeping the words simple helps the reader engage more with the book and not lose the momentum of the book. I waited for the excitement of the spy and his silent partner Sylvia to pick up, but the book was had a steady feel about it. I want the entertainment of the spy and the case that he or she is working on. While the romantic couple are chasing down clues and spying on enemies to the crown, the couple embark on the desires for one another. Give me the steam of a four alarm fire.

i didnt love the first book in this series, so it was amazing when I read this one and adored it! Emily Sullivan had so much fun making me laugh with this book and also getting me to really care and connect with the romance!

Included as a top pick in bimonthly December New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

I didn’t hate this, but I skimmed the latter half out of boredom. There were intriguing social justice and anti-empire sentiments, but I was still bored. IDK. I blame myself because everyone else loves this book. If the ship doesn’t spark, then I just won’t give a damn.

Emily Sullivan does it again with another terrific histrom! Bluestocking secretary + spy who's pretended to be a shallow-minded rake in order to move through society undetected = a dynamic that felt tailor-made for me personally. The thing I loved about this was how utterly into Sylvia Rafe is from the start of their interactions (even as he's not entirely able to put a finger on WHY that is — but we know, don't we, romance fans?) while her first instinct is to dismiss him because she hasn't seen his hidden depths right away. These two challenge each other at every turn but the book doesn't necessarily stray into super-angsty territory, and I really loved their making-up moment at the end just because of how playful and sweet and swooningly romantic it was. (One of my favorite historical romance mini-tropes also remains the one where the two of them end up stranded in some kind of groundskeeper's cottage during a rainstorm and have to get dry/warm together, which of course leads to them warming each other up some other way too.) Cannot WAIT for Georgiana and Henry to get their romance in The Hellion and the Hero, and Sullivan has cemented herself as a must-buy histrom author for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First off like always I want to say a huge thank you to the publisher Hachette Audio , the author Emily Sullivan , and to NetGalley for the invite to read and review it.As well as to Forever for sending me a physical copy of it. This book had a lot of what I love in a fun historical romance that I can just read and get lost in to , and since I had both the audiobook and physical book ( which I could read along with ) I would set there for a few hours a day enjoying the story and the characters. One of the main things I loved about this story was the compelling characters it had ,as well as abundance of intrigue and mystery that came though the story and didn't take anything away from it or the romance part of it. As for the narrator she , she brought the characters to life and give them their personality

The Rebel and the Rake is the follow up to Sullivan's incredible debut and I was extremely excited about this one. Rafe is a spy who has carefully cultivated his reputation as a rake so that no one really looks at him twice. He's sent off to this house party to investigate the guests of the rich man host. One of those guests is Sylvia. She is being blackmailed because her past of advocating for equal rights for women and against some of the policies of the Crown means that she's not exactly approved company for her best friend who married a stodgy viscount. The two have immediate sparks that they try to ignore, but they keep finding themselves drawn back to one another.

Ultimately, this book was an enjoyable romp, although I don't think I loved it as much as the first one. Rake and Sylvia keep secrets from one another for obvious reasons for quite a bit of the book and I think I would have enjoyed it more if they had been honest with one another a bit sooner and spent more time working together. That said, I really loved the book and the way it ended and Emily Sullivan definitely has a fan for life!

I finally had some time and finished this book. The new year really made me go into a slump I'm so sorry lmao. The only thing that made me happy was anime so I constantly watched it instead of, you know, reading my books. So, now I'm behind on every book release lmao but it's okay we're rolling.

The Rebel and the Rake was such a fascinating, fun read. I've never read an Emily Sullivan book so this was a first for me! I totally need to read the previous book to this one because I just loved Sullivan's writing and storytelling gift. I'm definitely excited about book 3 aka HENRY AND GEORGIANA'S BOOK!!! I'm going to be first in line for that obviouslyyyyyy.

Where can I order a Mr Rafe Davies huh? Amazon? Where?!!!! He was literally so swoony. His cover (because he's a spy!) is supposed to be a rake, a bachelor, a flirt. But the heroine Sylvia like sees through him. She sees beyond his crafted persona and Rafe doesn't know what to do with that, so of course the first thing he does is fall in love with her immediately. Their chemistry is wild and so intense. I love their dynamic so much. He just completely melts when he is with her.

I knew going into this book that I was going to love Rafe Davies based on how much I loved him during his few scenes in A Rogue To Remember and I was right. He was such a joy! And hot. That man knows exactly what to say to a woman, in bed and out.. Most of the time.

I loved how Sylvia challenged him. She never stood for any of his fake persona and always saw to the core of him. She also never wavered on what she believed in, which was refreshing. Sylvia was a great main character! I hope we get to see more of her in the next book (which I am so so excited for).

Overall, this was a fantastic story and I loved all of the rebel and spy vibes, the steamy scenes (one of which he’s tied to a chair!), the mystery element and all of the fun banter and flirting— definitely recommend this one if you’re into historical romance!

4/5⭐️

✨how many times can I see bluestocking and rake in the same sentence and get excited? answer: infinity✨

A spitfire bluestocking who gets in the way for a Victorian spy pretending to be a rake? Sounds like a pretty basic story right? It’s really not.

Tropes:
💼 victorian era
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 hr that takes place in scotland
🎩 hero pretending to be a rake
🧠 competence kink
😫 pining
🏡 house party setting
👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻 forced proximity
😍 hero falls first
🔎 crime solving duo
🕵🏻 spy hero
📚 bluestocking heroine
📣 political activist heroine
🙌🏽 experienced heroine
🥵 hero pursues the heroine
🤝strong female friendship

With that many good tropes, how could I not have been drawn to this book?

While this book started off slow, it stole my heart in the second half. As Rafe and Sylvia secrets began to come undone and they began to work together to solve the mystery looming over their heads, I came to fall in love with the book 😍😍

I am honestly pretty tired of the super-easy-to-solve mystery with a buy guy who is so much of caricature, I might as well have gotten him crafted by a caricature artist on the beach. The crime/mystery investigating was actually interesting in this one. And I am a sucker for a crime solving duo who are intellectually compatible and thoroughly understand and complete each other. The competency kink was strong with this one 🥵🥵

Sylvia was the fiery political activist heroine that I needed. She learned to stand strongly behind her values and boundaries 🙌🏽 I loved watching her break the barriers the pressures of her family had set on her. I found myself in between the seams of Sylvia’s character as I am sure many of you all will too 😍😍

If you are looking for a historical romance with more than just the romance in focus, this is a great option 🙌🏽

The only reason I am taking off a star and a half is because the beginning was extreeeemly slow. It took me a while to get through the book. I was tempted to DNF quite a bit.

P.S. I am honestly not a fan of this new style of covers at all. Bring back the old flourishing fonts and oil painting covers, even if it is for reserved poses like these. I loved the cover for the first book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 stars | 🌶🌶/ 5 steam

Thank you to Forever Romance, Netgalley, and Emily Sullivan for an eARC and physical copy in exchange for my honest opinion ❤️

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Miss Sylvia Sparrow may be a respectable companion, but she's hiding a secret which could ruin her, and the beginnings of a blackmail plot is more than enough to scare any woman. But not Sylvia - she will do everything she can to stop the blackmail, and help protect her best friend - and only other person who knows the truth - Georgiana. However, when spy Rafe Davies turns up at the very house party she's at in the highlands, and is looking for someone who just happens to be her, she needs to do everything she can to keep him at arm's length, even if her heart is telling her not to let go. Rafe is slowly learning that his position at the agency, under the shadow of his half brother, may not be enough for him anymore, and he wants more - especially with a beautiful woman who's turned his head. As he learns that his mission is one which makes him test his morals, will be finish it, or stick to his guns?

This was a book I wasn't too sure of what to expect. I liked book 1, but didn't love it, so was a little apprehensive that this would be the same. But, thankfully, I really enjoyed this one. The characters in this book were ones you couldn't help but love, and especially Sylvia. Her secret past was that she had been involved in the suffragette movement, and had been arrested at one point trying to recruit prostitutes to the cause. No one would employ her now, so she changes her name, and relies on her best friend for a reference. And it all goes well, until she starts to receive blackmailing letters, and if Georgiana's awful husband found out the truth, Sylvia would be all by herself. She thinks she can manage to keep it at bay, but with Rafe's arrival it soon turns difficult, when she wants to be able to trust and rely on him, but she's risking everything. The plot line in this story was much better than what was in book 1, and with how Georgiana's story turned out towards the end, I'm desperate for book 3!

Another spy for the crown is the leading male in this series! Rafe is sent to Scotland on a mission to help his brother where he meets Sylvia who is a companion and secretary to a lady while they are on a visit. So many secrets in this one from both sides. Rafe find he can't stop watching Sylvia over the other ladies, but she is also getting blackmailed to find and give out secrets as well. This was is a fun one with blackmail, spies, a rich crazy millionaire, old ladies, and good friends.

I can't wait for more of this series and I'm sooo excited for the next one!

4.5 star
3.5 steam

Thanks to forever for a copy of this book

This was an awesome historical romance! I really enjoyed Rafe and Sylvia's story. Lots of intrigue and secrets that lead to quite a few interesting developments. I really enjoyed the host of side characters especially Georgiana and Henry. Can't wait to read more from Emily Sullivan in the future!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

The Rebel and the Rake by Emily Sullivan is book Two in the League of Scoundrels Series. This is the story of Sylvia Sparrow and Rafe Davies.
Sylvia is a lady’s companion who is being blacked mailed about her questionable past. So she is having to take from her the family she is working for. Rafe has been sent to investigate things that are being taking which leads him to a house party and he meets Sylvia. They both are drawn to the other but both have their secrets that of course would pull them apart. Enjoyed their story.

I loved the first in this series, and the sequel found new ways to amp up the intrigue and excitement. Here, we don't have enemies by personality. However, Sylvia and Rafe have accidentally landed on different sides of a bit of light espionage. Rafe's been called in to use his skills as an agent of the Crown to uncover the thief who stole an envelope containing "highly sensitive" political documents from a powerful man in Scotland during his house party. Sylvia was blackmailed into taking the envelope lest her past as a radical women's rights agitator ruin her much-needed position as a lady's companion, and worse, tarnish the reputation of her friend, who will answer to a wrathful husband. As Rafe hunts a thief, Sylvia fears exposure, and an attraction grows between them somewhere in the space that isn't taken up by all their secrets.

This book offers the anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist atmosphere I demand from all books. I would like to send Sylvia to coach several more lukewarm feminist heroines until they also come out raging socialists with several cogent, accurate critiques of government, class systems, and gender roles. The way Sylvia challenges Rafe is top tier, and I like the way she sets clear expectations for what she wants in a partner.

Despite my firm support for the messaging of this book, I didn't find the romance as magical as its predecessor. For Rafe, it's love/attraction at first sight, a concept that baffles this ace reader whenever it comes up. For Sylvia, the attraction's there, if not the heart-eyes. While I anticipated a huge fallout from the revelation of their roles in the current drama and the deeper secrets of their pasts, it came earlier than I expected, ushering in a full-blown emotional disaster between them for the latter portion of the book. Much angst. I found I lost a lot of interest once that shift took place, which is just a matter of personal preference.

I highly recommend this series. While the tropes and pacing of this one weren't my exact cup of tea, I still appreciated what it had to say and eagerly await the next installment. Thanks to Forever for my copy to read and review!

4.5 stars rounded up.

Rafe Davies is London’s favorite and most charming rake, but that’s all a façade to hide his status as a key agent working for the crown. He’s a bit reckless, but that has always worked in his favor on missions. When his latest assignment brings him to a Scottish house party and into the orbit of Miss Sylvia Sparrow, a proper and tart-mouthed lady’s companion, Rafe is, perhaps for the first time, truly distracted from his mission.

Sylvia has no interest in getting involved with a man again since she previously placed her trust in the wrong one and it led to her utter ruination. She’s determined to avoid Rafe at all costs, but that proves impossible and when she learns he’s hiding unexpected facets of his character, she can no longer ignore the blazing attraction between them. But soon Sylvia suspects she isn’t the only one at the party with something to hide and that Rafe is a danger to more than just her fragile heart.

I both read and listened to this book, and I have to say, as usual for me really, the narration really helped draw me into the story and especially keep in mind who was a member of the upper crust of society. There was a lot going on here and definitely more mystery than I had expected, but this was a good thing. Something about the narrator’s voice also helped me really feel and believe the tension and essentially immediate connection between Rafe and Sylvia and drew emphasis to how irresistible each found the other. Rafe and Sylvia were certainly an odd couple, but I think they challenged each other to want and expect more and to make the changes and adjustments to their own thinking and actions to make it work between them. That, friends, is what relationships are all about and that aspect made this very real for me. With all the obstacles between Rafe and Sylvia, I was nervous about this ending and worried I would wind up unsatisfied with how things were left, especially given that they were separated for a bit, but thankfully everything was brought together splendidly in the end, and I was very pleased. I loved the setting of this book, at a house party in a Scottish lowland castle, and the multi-layered hero and mystery elements really worked for me, and the pacing was quick enough to hold my interest. I don’t think I loved this quite as much as the first book in the series, but it is still an excellent follow-up, especially considering that the first book is on another level for me as a true favorite. Nonetheless, I loved learning more about the real Rafe beneath the playboy façade and I was happy to see him teach Sylvia about real relationships with trust while she helped him see areas where he could make a real difference. This was an excellent read/listen and I’m excited for the next book and hoping to find out what’s going on between Georgiana and Henry.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and its audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.